Tag Archives: certificat de conformité européen

The European Certificate of Conformity, also called COC or approval certificate is an essential document to register in France and throughout Europe a vehicle purchased abroad.

To facilitate intra-Community trade and simplify administrative procedures, the European Union has set up the certificate of conformity (COC) valid in all EU countries. However, this only applies to vehicles of less than 3.5 tonnes, type M1 (9 people sitting up with the driver), and the year of construction and registration is higher than 1995.

The certificate of conformity is a standardized document containing technical information on the vehicle for which it was established, it indicates that the vehicle conforms to the standards of the country of origin. Thus, it contains the vehicle chassis number, the Community type-approval number and other technical characteristics of the vehicle such as weight, color, height and length, etc …

However, despite having allowed a simplification of administrative procedures for approval of a vehicle from abroad, the COC remains mandatory for persons who acquired a vehicle outside France. It is often difficult to buy and therefore lengthens the time for obtaining a gray card, whereas the statutory maximum period for the registration of an imported vehicle is 30 days.

However, to be valid, the certificate of conformity must be issued before the certificate of sale or first registration of the vehicle and must indicate the chassis number or VIN in the same series to the one engraved on the vehicle manufacturer’s plate.

Note however that for vehicles not having COC (pre-1996 vehicles and N1 utility vehicles), identification certificates are issued, replacing the approval certificate prefecture.

So for every used vehicle purchased in Europe, it is essential to remember to ask the seller to provide the car with a distinct European Certificate of Conformity COC that Europe can provide.

COC Europe specializes in obtaining certificates of conformity for any brand. We provide the best prices and fast delivery.